28 Feb 2023

Implementation of the register for Secure Land Title (SLT) initiative has been sluggish because people are not coming forth as expected.

 Consequently, the onus was community leaders to spread the registration message, according to Tsabong District Council chairperson, Mr Hendrick Jacobs.

Addressing the full council recently, he said land owners were registering at a snail pace, and he encouraged plot owners to register for SLT, which could help unlock true economic value of their plots.

So far, he said, the land board had registered 31 plots with the Department of Deeds Registry. 

It has one Registered General Plan of 585 plots for Bontleng ward in Tsabong, adding that in the approved plan only 200 land owners registered for the SLT.

Mr Jacobs said there had been challenges in the issuance of the SLT since the commencement of systematic registration initiative.

He urged councillors to take action to mobilise the community to register.

To date, the waiting list backlog for residential plots in the district stands at 9 957. 

“The land board has so far allocated a total of 536 plots in the district from the targeted 2 163 plots accounting for only 24.7 percent.  This has been attributed to lack of readily available plots at areas where there are huge waiting lists such as Tsabong and Maubelo,” he said.

In some parts of the district there were plots available, but people did not apply. 

At Maleshe, Omaweneno and Draihoek available plots exceeded their waiting lists where there were less than 50 applicants. 

He said to deliver service in other villages in the district, there were base maps at Khawa, Bray, Rappelspan, Vaalhoek, Werda, Struizendam and Kolonkwaneng scheduled to be completed before the end of the 2022/2023 financial year. 

To meet demand where there were long waiting lists, Mr Jacobs informed councillors that the land board had outsourced surveying of alyouts at Tsabong in Borakanelo ward with 1 036 plots, Kisa with 287 plots, Kokotsha at 117, Bogogobo with 333 and Khuis with 141 plots. 

He said the tender had been ran through Department of Surveys and Mapping, but was interdicted by a Land Tribunal Order in December 2022 following an appeal lodged by some bidders.

The interdiction, he said, came when private surveyors were already on site. 

He said the land board shall use in-house surveyors to survey 1 262 plots in Tsabong at Matlhatlaganyane ward, 463 in Bokspits and 100 plots in  Gakhibane. 

He added that the anticipated plots exceeded the set target of 2 163 plots planned for allocation before the end of this financial year.

For ploughing field allocations, he said the waiting list across the district stood at 6 171. 

He said the land board had demarcated 426 ploughing fields in Kokotsha, which were scheduled for allocation in February last year, but there was objection from some community members who preferred a special dispensation for the plots to be allocated to people from Kokotsha, adding the matter had since been escalated to the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs.

Mr Jacobs said 100 plots were ready to be allocated as soon as the matter was resolved.

He divulged that 270 ploughing fields were yet to be demarcated in Werda, 246 in Makopong, and 174 in Maleshe.

Responding to the speech Khawa councillor, Mr Piet Bok called for the backlog to be cleared. 

He expressed concern at the delay of completion of Khawa and Gakhibane base maps, which should have been completed by December 2022. 

He wanted answers as to why base maps had not been approved to date.

For his part, Tsabong South councillor, Mr John Lentshikang, said it was important to fast track land allocations despite the challenges. 

He highlighted that building material prices continued to escalate thus it was important to allocate one a plot as soon as they lodged an application rather than years later as that could adversely affect them economically.

“Ditlhwatlhwa tsa dithoto tsa kago di tlhatloga letsatsi le letsatsi, motho fa a tsenya kopo gompieno a bo a bewa morago ga dingwaga the prices will be too high for them to build,” he said.

Specially elected councillor, Mr Nkatlholang Simane, appealed to community members to cooperate with land surveyors as some land allocations were delayed by members who were not prompt in response to surveyors. 

He said there were challenges of allocation due of resource constraints hence the need to work together to come up with solutions.

Draihoek/Makopong Cllr Mr Moses Chimbombi called for more to be done to allocate ploughing fields. 

He decried that from 2019 to date the number of ploughing field allocations was below target. 

He said land was critical human economic development resource and therefore if it took longer time to make allocations the people will remain in poverty. Ends